UAZ is the best Pole of Cold Shuttle
A Jordi, of Catalonia, is asking:
I have been reading the last report about Norwegians’ accident [in Yakutia/Siberia], and I want to ask you something… Is this a recent story? I haven’t found the piece of news relating to this.
Nowadays I know some people who want to make the journey to Oymyakon [the coldest place in Yakutia and the whole Siberia], only as a wish, without nothing to take it seriously. I’ve been reading different articles, and AskYakutia’s reports and I think it is not a thing for not taking it seriously. It’s very funny to see -60ºC, but another thing is to go for them.
What do you thing about this journey? It is a little dangerous, isn’t it?
My answer was as follows:
Regarding Norwegians’ accident on the Road of Bones, Yakutia/Siberia
Yeah, this accident happened recently, on Dec. 22, 2009. Norwegian & Yakutian mass media wrote much about it :) About other outlets I have no information.
These guys were stuck on the old route of the Kolyma Highway between Tomtor (the village near Oymyakon) and Magadan. I’ll repeat the following well-known fact once more. This pathway after Tomtor is not used by locals in winter at all. It is buried under snow.
If Tomtor or Oymyakon residents want to make it to Magadan, they…
1) go west to Kyubyume,
2) turn north to Ust-Nera and then…
3) ..drive south-east to Magadan.
Regarding the travel to Oymyakon, the Pole of Cold in Siberia
The way from Yakutsk to Tomtor and Oymyakon is relatively safe in winter. However, drivers must have some experience of driving on mountain roadways in winter, because the hard part of the Kolyma Highway (the Road of Bones) is the part between Khandyga and Kyubyume. That’s the Verkhoyansk Range.
Zheltyj Prezhim (желтый прежим), Cherntyj Prezhim (черный прежим) and Zayachja Petlya (заячья петля) are considered to be pretty dangerous on that part in the Verkhoyansk Range. You are driving just on the edge of cliffs. Not so funny, but locals and truck drivers know how to go through.
Actually, to go to Oymyakon is not dangerous, but some security precautions must be done.
1. It will be safer, if travelers will go together on two cars. If anything will happen to one car, another can come for help. To stuck in the extreme outdoor cold for two or five hours and without heating is very fraught.
2. To have fuels in reserve. Usually drivers keep extra gasoline in plastic containers. In case if fuel is suddenly run out, they were able to refuel tanks. Note: there is no gas station in mountains between Khandyga and Kyubyume.
Btw, I am arranging the roadtrip to Oymyakon for my friends. Check the event page on Facebook. The journey with accommodation will take 5 days and costs as little as ~272 EUR. That’s the rate with big-big discounts and for my friends only. One car is already full. The day of departure is January 17, 2010. Follow this adventure in Siberia’s Yakutia :)
Similar Posts:
- Yakutsk – Magadan: A satellite phone is a must! Or how Norwegians were lost and found on the Road of Bones…
- Pros & Cons: Travel from Yakutsk to Magadan in winter by taxi
- The Kolyma Highway / the Road of Bones
- What settlements to pass on the way to Magadan through Oymyakon?
- More about Oymyakon, the Pole of Cold
